A Song Can Slay a Dragon
by KanArcoGuppy
Summary: Three friends head out to stargaze at a school's campgrounds. Their singing around the fire, however, draws a mysterious green goddess beckoning them to save a world in terrible danger. What else can they do but say yes?
1. They need us? (Matt)

They need… us?

That night was typical for New England. The night was cloudy, wet, tiring. I was ready to fall over from boredom. School dances typically had that effect on me. Half the time, I never even wanted to go, I would just get convinced by my friends. How they managed to pull that card on me all the time I'll never know, but to be fair they always had good intentions. This dance was typical of a high-school: loud music, assorted snacks, people hooking up in the corners, strobe lights, and (of course) that guy with no shirt on (we all know that guy). My friends and I didn't do too much, just dance for an hour or so and then leave to hang out as we normally did. Slowly our friends trickled off to their separate dorms until only a few of us were left.

"Welp, it's 5 minutes to dorm check in. You guys coming?" Alex stood up, stretching.

Jason shook his head. "We got permission to go to the campgrounds tonight and we're gonna go stargazing and shit. We're probably gonna spend the night there, if you wanna come later."

Alex debated this internally for a second. After a moment though, he shook his head and started walking back, "I'll pass tonight, it's too cold. Have fun!" We bid each other goodnight and the last of us remained: Jason, Maya, and I.

"Well," Jason said cheerfully, "Shall we start heading through the sketchy-ass woods to get to our campsite?" Maya picked up the telescope, Jason grabbed the food, and I hitched the pack carrying the tent on my back. We headed out towards the path leading to our school's 800 acres of woods.

"You know," I said eventually "I'm actually kinda glad I'm here tonight" Maya glanced over at me.

"You think we'd let you go home and play League all night? You're never here for dances. Nerd."

"But… I hate dances"

"Oh shut up! You had fun, right?"

I shrugged. Really this was the only part of the night what I was looking forward to. The clouds were supposed to clear around one o'clock and there were no other lights than the moon and stars when we were this far from campus. That brought up another question though. "What were we going to do until one o'clock?" I asked. Maya shrugged,

"I brought your 3DS, so that gives us Kirby, Pokémon X, and Fire Emblem."

"Jason still hasn't played Awakening" I said, rather pointedly at Jason. We looked at him with questioning expressions. He groaned.

"I don't see how you can be mad at me for not playing it when Maya practically stole your DS, dude." He said. I glanced at Maya, who shrugged.

"Guilty" she said. We laughed lightly and kept on our path. We soon found our campsite and put our stuff down. From this hill, you could see everything around campus. I could see the chapel extending above the trees, and the faint glow of campus lights. I looked at the mountains, seeing farmlands and peaks against the night sky. I lay out on the grass and sighed. Maybe it was a good idea to stay tonight. I never should have though. The whole night had this _feel _to it. I felt like it was really important that I be there. Looking up at the sky, the clouds still blocked the moon and the stars, but they shinned so bright that we could see.

Maya was busy starting a fire and Jason was getting out the marshmallows when I proposed an idea to pass the time, something we could all do, "You guys want to sing? I feel like singing." Maya and Jason looked at each other and then back to me. You need to understand, we all do theater: plays, musicals and the like. We all could sing, and not to brag, but we were good. In fact a few nights before the dance we sang a quartet a capella with Alex for the school's performance night. We got a standing ovation.

"What do you propose?" Jason asked. "Maybe the C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E-S-O-N-G so-"

"No!" Maya and I cut him off in unison.

"Well," I said "why don't we just sing Jersey Boys or something?" Maya put her hand to her forehead "Oh god no please." I laughed. "Alright alright, why don't we sing… Go the Distance?" We had only practiced it a few times, but it should sound alright without Alex… probably.

We sat at the fire and started cooking marshmallows as we pitched ourselves and prepared to sing. I breathed in. The air was crisp; the smell of the wood burning filled my nostrils and gave me a nice feeling. I always loved the smell. We began to sing, Maya taking Tenor, Jason taking Bass, and I took Lead. It _did_ sound a bit weird without our Baritone, but we still sounded really nice.

_I have often dreamed, of a far off place_

_Where a great warm welcome will be waiting for me._

We looked back and forth at each other as we sang, smiling, rising in volume.

_Where the crowds will cheer, when they see my face_

_And the voice keeps saying this is where I'm meant to be_

It truly was a nice night. We raised the volume to as loud as we could and let the air fill our stomachs as we delivered the next lines full force:

_I will find my way, I can go the distance_

_I'll be there someday, if I can be strong._

_I know every mile will be worth my while_

_When I go the distance, I'll be right where I belong._

We continued to sing all the songs in our repertoire, and by the time we finished the last one, the sky had cleared. We took turns looking through the telescope. It truly was a beautiful night_._ I shouldn't have stayed though. Jason was taking his turn at the telescope, and as he turned to tell me something his expression became slack-jawed.

"Did I get that ugly in the last 5 minutes?" I asked, jokingly. His face didn't change. Maya looked at him, looked at me, and total shock covered her face. Something was certainly off. I turned around. Light was gathering into one spot, eventually converging into something that looked vaguely human. The light dimmed, and in it, I saw a woman. Her hair was a shocking green, and she wore a white dress. On the ground where she was standing, flowers were growing out of the ground, and the symbol of Fire Emblem Awakening (you know what it was called… Mark of the Exalt?) was shinning around her feet. … Naga?

"I have been looking for you for a long time now, Angels of Music" she said, speaking into our minds. Now, as FREAKING AWESOME as it was to be called an Angel of Music by something that was obviously not of this world, I was already not on board with what "Naga" was going to say to us. I looked behind me at my friends. Maya was as surprised as me, probably recognizing Naga from the game, and Jason was just dumbfounded. Naga continued: "You are aware of a certain _game_ from this world correct?" I could only assume she meant Awakening. None of us were able to speak still so she continued. "I assure you that that world is very real. Something is wrong though, the course that the world is supposed to take took a horribly wrong turn, and almost ended. I'm using some of the last of my power to come to you with a proposition." Naga's image flickered. I finally worked up a single word, "…What?"

Naga continued, "That world needs _you_ three. I have determined that what went wrong in that world can be stopped by your presence. I am not sure how, however." Naga looked at us sadly. She was beautiful in a strange, goddess-like sort of way. I swallowed, steeled myself, and spoke,

"So… you want to bring _us_ into the world of Awakening."

Jason spoke up behind me, "I don't think you are making the right decision here. It's a game about a war right? We aren't soldiers. We're…" Jason swallowed his pride for a moment "Well, we're nerds. Scrawny, non-athletic, do the play instead of sports. Nerds!"

"I'm athletic!" Maya said angrily at Jason

"I'm not scrawny." I said with a scowl. Jason raised his hands defensively,

"Well, I guess, but what about experience? And even if you aren't scrawny, none of us are a shining example of a jock, MUCH less a fighter." He had us there.

Naga giggled. "I can fix things like that. I'm afraid that… I'm almost out of time to talk to you. This world needs you more than you could ever comprehend." She looked at us with sad eyes. "I implore you to accept. If you do not, the world shall be lost." I looked back at my two friends. Maya seemed… ready, almost. As if she was expecting this to happen all along. Jason looked between us. He wasn't physically strong, or even just big, and he wouldn't have an easy time in a war, regardless of knowledge. At the same time though, Jason cared deeply for anyone with any sort of problem, as did Maya, and as did I. We came to a silent agreement. They stepped forward on either side of me and together, we faced Naga. Maya spoke up for us, "Go ahead Naga. T-take us to where you need us."

Naga smiled. "I'm going to take you back to where the Exalt finds the son of Grima. At that time, there was no outside interference. I wish you luck."

**A/N**

(Matt) : AUGH its cheesy, I know, I'm sorry, I couldn't think of a better way to introduce us into the world. Just a couple quick notes on this series: It's a co-written piece between the three of us, and everyone will be writing their own chapters from their perspective. Whether or not we are the only three brought to the world or not is TBD, but the three of us wanted to start this because… well because we are nerds who really enjoy the universe of Fire Emblem Awakening. Anyway, we don't own any of the characters of Fire Emblem or the story of Fire Emblem OR the song used in this chapter: "Go the Distance". We just wanted to have some fun writing this, and we want to give you guys something to enjoy reading! That being said, PLEASE feel free to give us feedback, even if it is to say "you guys suuuuck" because we want to become better writers through this as well. SO anyway, we hope you guys enjoy and we will see you soon with the First official chapter! (woo) ~ Jason, Maya, and Matt 3

(Note from Jason: Yup, our school does actually have campgrounds and telescopes and 800 acres. Also yeah this chapter I just did some editing on Matt's stuff. Also I haven't played as of the time of writing this, but thanks to Matt and Maya being meaniejerkheads I have been pretty much spoiled. 3 ily all u readers)

Note from the wonderful Maya: I'm just here to tell them whether or not what they write completely sucks, which it does. Apparently I'm a dick for saying this but you need someone to tell you the truth sometimes. I'm not as much of a total nerd as these two dweebs so I'll be adding some outside perspective. Don't hate me cuz I'm beautiful ~ Maya

(She says that, but she wanted to be in this as much as Jason or I 3 ~Matt)


	2. New Enhancements (Matt)

Right after Naga wished us luck, white light engulfed us. Closing my eyes did nothing, all I could see was white. But the light wasn't searing, it was a kind sort of light. Despite being brighter than when you stare at the sun, my eyes felt totally relaxed. At least that was some assurance that Naga had good intentions for us. The light slowly, ever so slowly, faded to black. It felt as though it took months to clear, but eventually I opened my eyes to a blue sky with a few scattered clouds. I sat up groggily, rubbing the sides of my head. Something felt very off. I tried to stand, but lost my balance and fell back again. I looked down at my legs and couldn't believe what I was seeing.

My legs were much longer than they were before I had been transported here. Bewildered I looked at my arms. I had more muscle than I had before too. Finally I looked downwards at my midsection. I had lost all my chub, but I wasn't ripped. Just a bit more athletic. At my side, I found a sheathed sword and lying on the ground next to it was a shoulder shield, similar to those worn by the Mercenary class from the game. Guess that was going to be my job. I glanced around. Jason and Maya were laying a few feet away from me, and it was obvious they went through similar changes. Jason was less boney than he had been before. Like me, he wasn't rippling with muscles, but he had certainly developed some. He was tall to begin with, so he hadn't gained as much height as I had. On his back was a simple Iron Bow, complete with a quiver. Lying in front of him was a dagger. Archer?

Maya had her own major share of changes. It looked like she had had the same strength boost as Jason and I as well. What threw me off was that, unlike Jason, she looked significantly older than before, as if she had gone from 15 to 19 or 20. Looking closer at Jason, he also looked older, anywhere from the age of 19-22. I looked over myself again. Aging would explain the height at least. It seemed like a plausible theory, but one that could be figured out later. For now, I continued to examine the changes Maya went through. Lying by her side was a red book stacked on a black one. I guess she was a mage? Although, if she had a black book she was probably a Dark mage. They were both still out cold. I took notes on our surroundings. Far to the, what, north? Far to the north I saw a small village. Other than that I only saw mountain ranges and open land. The area that we were in was a grassy field, probably the same one from the opening of the game.

That gave me another thought. Were the three of us the tactician? That would be bad; the army would get nothing done. Jason hadn't played through the whole game, and Maya wasn't good at it. I wasn't exactly a shining example of tactics. I gave up on lunatic mode at Chapter 3. I looked around, trying to see if there was some form of the Avatar character anywhere. Nope, didn't see one. My train of thought was broken when I heard Jason groan. His face glanced up from the dirt and he focused on the dagger. He just stared at it for a moment.

"Is this a dagger I see before me, the handle towards my hand?" He said. His voice had gotten significantly deeper as well it seems. "Come let me clutch thee" he said reaching out at it. I rolled my eyes. Even after all of this change, we were still theatre nerds. Ugh. Sorry. _Theater _nerds, for you plebeians. Couldn't change that too could you Naga? Would it have been _that _hard to make us somewhat cool? Oh whatever, it would give us something to do without technology. Oh shit, no technology! How would I occupy my every waking hour without Game Grumps and Anime? How would Jason and Maya live without Tumblr? _Curse you Naga!_ I thought to myself. I mean it was nice to have a sort of "Level up" thing going on here but come on. Ah well. Jason seemed to be having the same revelation about our physical changes, as he looked at me and Maya with scanning eyes. Shakily, he stood up, adjusting to his new height.

"_Shit_, how long was I out? You look like you're 20 now!", he said. I inspected myself again. I had strapped the sword to my back and put the shield on my right shoulder. My clothes had changed to a simple cotton shirt and pants. I looked back at Jason. He had on a similar outfit, only his shoulder guard was leather.

"I don't know, but you look pretty old yourself." I said. Jason glanced down at himself and seemed to notice his changes for the first time. He looked back up at me with wide eyes.

"Where those marshmallows laced with something? I thought we were going to a new world, not skipping _3 years_ of our lives." It was true. This arrangement seemed odd. Maybe it was to avoid suspicion of some 17 year olds walking around with the army. I couldn't pretend I understood Naga's plans, but for the meantime, this upgrade was pretty nice.

Jason looked at his knife intently. He looked up at me, "I'm not a thief, am I?" he asked. I pointed at his shoulder. He felt around and found the bow. He carefully took it off his back and felt its weight. "Swag!" I glared.

Maya moaned. We turned in her direction as she rose to her knees. She started to stand, and like I did, fell over as she wasn't used to her new body. Gradually, she managed to stand. Jason and I just watched and let her get a feel for her surroundings. She glanced down, and seeing the books, picked them up. She had on a similar outfit as us, only she didn't have a guard for her shoulder. She glanced at us through squinting eyes. Oh, I hadn't noticed. None of us had our glasses on, and all three of us needed them. After that revelation, I also realized that I hadn't noticed because my vision had become perfect. Thanks Naga.

"What… the f-" She started, but I cut her off.

"We aren't too sure either" I said, "but as soon as you gather your bearings, I think I know our first step." Maya was flipping through her spell books. She walked around a little bit, like you do with new shoes and finally stopped. She cleared her throat, and she began to sing. Now, Maya could most certainly sing before. Now though… now she could sing _better_ than a lark. Jason and I exchanged glances. Looks like we didn't only get physical upgrades. Jason tentatively tried to sing some low notes, and found his range had extended downward by at least 5 full steps. I tried my own tenor. It felt as though the sound just came naturally, I no longer had to _try _to sing well. Now, it was as if I was so used to singing that the sound flowed like honey and sounded just as sweet. We quietly sang a little trio together, testing our new abilities.

"Alright," Maya said eventually, "you said you think you knew our next step. Might as well start heading there now." I nodded and turned to the village I saw earlier.

"That village," I said, "Is the town that was burned at the beginning of the game by bandits. Naga said she would bring us here right before Chrom finds Robin…" I was still nervous that _we _were Robin, but we weren't woken up by Chrom so hopefully we would be fine. "So at any moment, that village-", As if on cue, smoke began to rise from the town. "-will be set on fire. So… anyone else wanna try out their new weapons?"

**A/N**

(Matt) Ello! Thanks for stopping by again if you read the first part! Next Chapter should be a battle scene, and will probably be from someone else's POV. Hope you enjoyed reading it ~ Matt

(Jason) We debated lowering my range 5 octaves so I could burst lungs by singing subsonicly, but we decided that was a bit excessive. Hope you enjoyed, and I hope you guys are ready for (hopefully?) some shit to hit the fan


	3. Yet Who Would Have Thought (Jason)

The first thing I noticed about the trek to the burning village was my ankle pain. Or, rather, lack thereof. The last, like, 6 years, I've had horrible ankle pain. Like, my tendons didn't work. Now I was...completely healthy? And also I wasn't out of breath. No one was panting, and we were running across uneven ground. I was so caught up in my musings that Matt had to grab me before I stumbled into a burning pile of rubble.

"Easy," he said. "Watch your step man. It would be embarrassing to be killed by a mass of burning wood."

I frowned while Matt and Maya laughed. Burning to death would be pretty embarrassing, but I felt like maybe the embarrassment would be the least of my worries if that happened. "So what do we do?", I said. "Just charge into the burning village? This is the part where we meet Chrom, right?" My knowledge of the game was rusty because I hadn't fully beaten it yet, but this should be the chapter after the premonition.

Matt looked at me. "Yeah...But I'm not exactly sure _where_ in the town...it's not like Awakening is a FPS. If I remember, they come in from the South"

"Matt...that's where _we _came from," said Maya. "We should just walk this way until we find them."

As if on cue, a man in black covered with various straps, a white cape, and a glistening steel pauldron on his left shoulder came from behind the building we were arguing by. "Who's there?" Chrom, right? Was this really happening? And why was he so hot?

Matt stepped in front of Maya and I. I guess he was taking initiative. "Chrom! Please, you need to listen to us! Naga sent us and we need to tell you how to save this world and-" Maya elbowed him and he shut up.

"Way to make us seem crazy, idiot."

The blonde girl following, the one in the corset with the yellow and white dress, looked at us quizzically. "What was that?" Lissa, that was her name.

This was going to hell. "Don't listen to our friend, please sir. He's just worn out. What he meant to say is that we are...um...here to help! Soldiers for hire! Vigilante warriors! We saw you were having a problem over here and we thought someone could use some help. About Naga….thats our name! You can call us the...Naga Quartet?"

Chrom raised his eyebrows. "There are three of you."

"The other one died." Maya deadpanned.

Lissa gasped. "Oh no I'm so sorry!"

"Besides that, what's to say we can trust you," said Chrom.

"We'll do it for free." Matt said

The white haired one in the long black coat pushed through the others. "Chrom, if they are doing it for free, we really could use the help."

"You bring up a fair point, Robin. Besides, we always have Fredrick the wary to watch over them. It's my initial reaction to trust someone, and it won't stop for these three." Robin. Right. The all-important protagonist. At least that meant none of us was the protag, right? That would suck, in all honesty. I mean, I hadn't even beaten the game, Maya wasn't anywhere near skilled at tactics, and Matt never made it past Chapter 3 on lunatic mode. "So it's settled these three will join us! What were your names again, strangers?"

"I'm Matthew, and these two are Maya and Jason. Pleasure to meet you, sir." Matt extended a hand, and Chrom took it and shook firmly.

"This is Lissa, our Cleric and my sister, and Frederick, our Knight. Don't let his stern look put you off, he means well." Lissa waved playfully, and Frederick gave a nod from his horse, accompanied with a terse grunt.

Further introductions were interrupted by a warcry from down the bridge to the North. Bandits approached across the market square we were in. "Everyone, get ready to fight!", shouted Chrom.

Fight? We didn't know how to fight! We were a couple high-schoolers, and no matter what no amount archery at camp or fencing lessons or tae kwon do could prepare us for a real _war_. What were we doing? And yet, before I knew it, my bow was in my hands and my arrow was notched. I looked over, and Matt had his sword in hand. Even Maya was holding out that red book she woke up with. Magic didn't even _exist!_

Chrom and Frederick pushed past me with a battlecry of their own, Chrom wielding Falchion and Frederick a silver lance. Frederick galloped towards the cart in front of me, his horse clearing it and the bandit behind, before charging towards another. Chrom advanced towards the river, parrying blows that came at him with effortless swipes. I turned, and suddenly a bandit was advancing on me, his sword glinting with the afternoon sunlight and the flames of the burning town. Before I knew what was happening, I let loose the arrow I had notched. It hit his shoulder, slowing his advance but not stopping him. Suddenly he was on me, and the dagger that was at my belt was in my hand. He swiped in a wide arc at me, and I dodged to the left, using his momentum to throw him off balance. I guess stage combat really _did_ have a practical use. My blade, deceptively small, slid itself from my hand with a slick noise into his stomach. Something hot and wet coated my hand. What did I just do? Up until this point it had all seemed like a game, no, it had all _been_ a game. But now it was something real. All that could come to mind in that moment was that moment in "Macbeth" when everyone really finds out that Macbeth killed King Duncan. The Doctor and Gentle woman overhear Lady Macbeth in a fit of insanity. Can you imagine? I just killed a guy, and I looked down at the blood all over my hands and and knife, and all I could do was quote Macbeth. _Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him_.

Matt kicked the body off of me and gave me a distraught look. His sword had blood on it as well, and he had a cut on his chest. He knew what was going on. "C-come on Jason. Lets go help." He offered me a shaky hand.

"Matt, you know that part where Lady Macbeth talks about killing Duncan and how she can't get the blood off her hands and stuff?"

"Yeah?"

"That."

"Yeah."

Maya stood a few yards away from us. Bolts of black and orange flame shot from her outstretched right hand, and at first she was smiling, reveling in her new abilities. I was horrified, but then I realized she was indirect. She didn't have to kill them right next to herself. I would've felt the same way if I just killed him with my bow. Everything changed when one of the bandits leapt towards her. She turned in time and blasted him away. He fell to her feet, burning and scorched, screaming in pain. She grimaced, and fired again, which only resulted in more cries of pain. After burning for what seemed like hours, the bandit finally died. Maya stared down at the labor of her hands. How did Chrom and Frederick do this? The three of us held our position for what seemed like forever. Eventually Robin came to us. The battle was over, Chrom had killed their commander. We came to a silent agreement and put on brave faces. We couldn't appear this weak to them after claiming to be soldiers for hire. Thank Naga for acting.

"Chrom said he would like to speak to you guys. Could you come to the bridge on the north end of town?" I wiped the blood from my dagger and followed Robin, and Matt and Maya came up behind me.

"Naga...trio? Nice to see you all still alive. Thank you so much for the help with that, and I guess this is where we part ways." Chrom gestured to the South. "Where will you be going?"

"Actually, sir, we would like to stay with you." I said.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, we are kind of in between jobs at the moment, and we don't really have anywhere to go, so maybe if you could take us-"

Lissa nudged Chrom. "They are staying for free~"

Chrom sighed. "Very well, then. You seem to have made quite the impression on my compatriots." Lissa clapped her hands together, Robin patted me on the back, and I swear I saw, if even for a millisecond, a slight turn up in the corner of Frederick's mouth. "We make camp tonight in the forest, and tomorrow we will leave to the North! I look forward to fighting alongside you all."

Our group of seven set off out of the town to the North. This _may _have been the wildest day of my life. And, regardless of the shock of the blood earlier, I was feeling...giddy. We were making a difference, right? And all that shock seemed to have dulled since. It was nice to know that I wasn't the only one suffering. I reached back, repositioned the bow on my back, and smiled slightly. I looked up at the new and foreign sky. Alex sure was missing out on this stargazing.

**A/N**

Matt: Jason and I got our history homework done early so that we could spend study hall writing this for you guys. The amount of people that have seen this in just a couple days FAR exceeded what we thought it would. Thanks for motivating us, and hopefully you guys enjoyed reading this chapter :D

Jason: mACBETHHH! also yeah this is this is my first chapter from my POV i hope u like it and please leave reviews like we read all of them and i nearly started crying bc one positive one its so great you guys like our work and we will continue to work for you!

Maya: I have a life I swear


	4. Getting to know you (Jason)

The walk took what felt like forever. Even with the new body, my feet hurt. I could see Maya and Matt felt the same way. The adrenaline of the fight had worn off, and my bruises throbbed. My head hurt. I didn't feel nearly as giddy as I had hours ago, which was to be expected after walking for…

"How long do you think we've been walking for?" I said as I leaned over to Maya. Before she had the time to respond, Chrom interrupted.

"I think we can make camp here, all." I let out a sigh. The sky was already turning dark here, and probably back home too. There was at least time in common with this foreign place and our homes, no matter how stressful and different this place was.

Maya stuck her tongue out, a gesture almost too earthly to exist in this place. "I guess there's your answer."

"Lissa, stay here and help our new recruits get settled in. Frederick and I will go get some foodstuffs." Chrom set off with his brusque knight, while I and the others sat down and Lissa constructed an impromptu fire. Soon we were all pitching in.

Matt laughed a little and turned to me. "It feels like we were just doing this at school," he said.

I smiled, wistfully. "We were."

"Yeah," Matt sighed, "We were."

Lissa politely intercepted our conversation. "So, where are you four from? I mean

Robin, obviously, you don't really remember...But what about you three?"

I panicked. I didn't know where we _should_ be from. I turned to Maya and Matt. "Well...um…" I stuttered.

Maya came to my rescue. "Ylisse, same as you. A little town by a river. Sorry about Jason, sometimes he gets nervous when he talks to pretty girls." I shot her my very best death glare as Matt stifled a laugh. Maya winked back at me. They both knew I had next to no interest in girls, and Maya just had to go all flirty mode with Lissa on my behalf.

Lissa smiled awkwardly, but we didn't have to continue this bungled conversation anymore as Chrom and Frederick walked back into the clearing we had settled into, dragging some furry, large animal carcass behind them.

"What is that?" I muttered out.

"Bear," Frederick replied.

Maya and I shared another look, but without any humor this time. I didn't eat any meat and she didn't eat red meat. She was plain revolted by it, and I hadn't eaten any meat for years. I wouldn't be in fighting shape if I ate it. But I wouldn't be safe if I didn't eat it, either. Matt, on the other hand, was already over helping to skin and cut up slabs of meat, spitting them on some long branches over the fire. The meat, running with fat and blood, crackled as it was set above the fire.

I wasn't against preparing or touching meat, mind you. I just didn't want to eat it. And since I hadn't eaten for so long, eating it again would upset my stomach and set me throwing up for a while. So I helped, if only to not seem suspicious with my handling of the meat.

When everything was cooked, Chrom handed everyone a messy, juicy slab of bear-flesh. Robin and Matt shared a famished look, smiled at each other, and dug in. Lissa poked the meat with her finger and took a single dainty bite before setting the meat down.

"Food, my one true love…" I heard Matt whisper into the meat. "I was worried I'd never see you again"

Robin looked up at me and Maya after taking a bite, a worried look blossoming on his face. "Aren't you two going to eat?" he said.

I _was _hungry, and so was Maya. I looked over at her as she raised the quivering meat to her mouth, obviously trying not to inhale the smell too much. She bit down, chewing and swallowing quickly so as not to raise suspicion or to taste it too long. She hated the taste of meat usually, but hunger took over and she began to bite off more bear.

It felt like all eyes were on me. I frowned at the meat and opened my mouth. It wasn't that I hated the flavor of meat, I just wasn't super for eating it. It wasn't like I had any other option, so I bit down too, and Matt looked at me almost surprised. I shrugged. The bear tasted pretty good, crispy and rich, and most importantly my body recognized it as some kind of sustenance. Hunger _is _the best sauce. However, its deliciousness doesn't have any connection to digestibility.

Soon we had all eaten as much as we were going to. Matt had had somewhere like 3 chunks, and Chrom too. I smiled, even though I could already feel my stomach starting to rebel. At least they were having fun. And it seemed like Maya and Matt were starting to bond with the others, and every now and then someone would tell a joke and others would laugh. The fire began to die down, however, and Maya volunteered to go get more wood.

Frederick stood up. "You do not know these woods, and I am stronger. I will get the wood, and you should sit down." I cringed. Maya hated it when people told her what to do. A storm was coming.

"Excuse me?" Maya's eyes turned from warm and helpful to icy cold. "Do you think that I can't go get some _fucking_ logs? Watch me." She walked away from the fire to the woods, an orb of her new-found magic lighting the way, with a poise as to trample everything on the way. Frederick stood up brusquely, a sort of fiery look in his eyes, and he followed her, growling after Maya about training and discipline. Matt laughed tensely.

Matt and Robin seemed to get along well, and I caught snippets of their conversation.

"So Robin, what is your opinion on blue hair?" Matt asked, as innocently as possible.

"What, like Chrom?" Robin responded, shifting uncomfortably.

"Yeah, actually, a _lot_ like Chrom's. Like, if he had a daughter or something, I don't know" Matt responded, blinking, completely poker faced. Even now, he's still a complete Robin/Lucina fan boy. Some things don't change.

I retired to a mossy spot on the ground while they still sat talking by the fire. Maya and Frederick were still in the woods, and their argument echoed quietly into the clearing, punctuated with the occasional break of a branch as they grabbed a log for the fire.

Eventually everyone was lying down somewhere, and it seemed like everyone but me was asleep. My stomach felt like I had maybe swallowed a burning log. I got up and tiptoed over to the bushes, and I felt a nauseous swing as I did so. I doubled over, throwing up as quietly as possible. Ew. There were little chunks in it too. I wiped my mouth off, and turned around to see a silhouette in front of me. My eyes focused, and I saw it was Lissa.

"Bear didn't sit well? Don't worry, I don't like it either." She smiled, and I smiled back. "Jason, right?"

I nodded. "That's me," I responded, weakly. "Yeah. I'm not sure why I ate the bear,

anyways. I knew it was going to upset my stomach, but I was hungry, I guess. I guess I didn't want everyone to think I was weird. You know?" She was a princess. Of course she didn't know. Everyone thought she was perfect, unlike me. "Or not."

"No, I know what you mean." She frowned. "Everyone always says that they need me to be ladylike and noble. I don't really want to, though, sometimes. I just kind of want to have fun and stuff, but everyone wants me to be their perfect princess. I feel like there isn't any direction, sometimes. I wish I could be like my sister. She's perfect, and no one judges her." Lissa frowned.

I was seized with the moment, and I hugged Lissa. She seemed momentarily surprised, but accepted it nonetheless. "I get it." I said "It feels like everyone

around me can do my job better, and that really I'm just wasting my time doing anything. Like you said, I never know where to go."

"Thanks for understanding. I don't have anyone to talk with, not really." She suddenly pulled back from the hug, and frowned, furrowing her brow. "Promise you won't tell anyone. Especially not Chrom or my sister Emm. They wouldn't understand…"

"I promise not to tell anyone, don't worry Lissa. Your secret is safe with me." I paused, and then added, "But I'm sure that they love you and would understand what you're feeling."

Lissa sighed. "Maybe," she said "But enough about me. Let me heal you up a little bit, maybe it will make your stomach ache go away. Sorry about all that. I just got...carried away I guess." She smiled sadly and took the staff off of her back. She pressed it against my stomach. She closed her eyes in concentration and the glass on the end of the staff started to glow blue. It felt uncomfortable, how my insides twisted and turned to right themselves, but by the end of it I felt a lot better. I was still queasy, but at least I would be able to fight.

I returned to where I had been sleeping before, but I still couldn't fall asleep. I heard whispering back towards the woods and decided to go investigate it, not even thinking about the possibility of it being danger.

"Do you think we should get Jason?" Maya whispered to Matt. They were sitting on a fallen log with their backs to me.

"I'm here," I whispered. "What's going on?"

"Not much." Matt replied. "Neither of us could sleep, so we just came out here and started talking. What do you think about the whole 'people getting married' thing? None of us are Robin so…"

"What's our role in this?" I caught on. "I don't know. I mean Robin and Chrom and all them have special kids, yeah, but what is our role in the whole paradox babies situation, right?"

"If I have my own specific kid, I swear to god I will kill something," said Maya.

"Harsh," Matt said. "But seriously, what effect are we even going to have? Will we even have one? Like what I if I marry the wrong person or get no one at all? Like when people don't make Robin marry Lucina or something."

Maya laughed. "Face it, I probably won't get married. Like, who would marry-" she gestured at herself "-this trash?"

I said. "Are any of the Fire Emblem characters not-straight anyways? Watch me get like….Frederick or something. That would be no fun. Dude never talks. It's weird."

Matt laughed, "No idea dude. Besides, you are probably going to die in like, two battles anyway." He winked.

I frowned. "Not funny. But actually, what's going to happen if we die? I mean I know we aren't main characters, so it would be for good, right? No resets?"

Matt's expression became serious, "I don't know. It's not like someone is playing right now, this feels real enough. To be perfectly honest… we would probably just die."

"Eh, if I die you guys get my stuff. Not like it will help you, but don't let it just like...rot or something." Maya said.

We laughed. "You know, we should probably, like, go to sleep. We're going to need it, especially if we have to battle or something tomorrow," I said.

"Wrong," Matt sighed. "Really, it's going to be in a couple of minutes. Excited for the cracking Earth and Fire everyone?"

Maya exclaimed. "Shit, is that _tonight_? I thought we'd at least have some time."

"I practically worship this game, I know everything." He gave us the look of a crazed cultist. "If I'm right, the explosions should start in about-" A boom resonated through the ground. "-now." He sighed, grabbing his sword from where it leaned against the log.

From across the clearing, Chrom was running with Lissa. I started to remember this part from what little I had played of the game. Robin and Frederick were asleep by the fire, the explosions were right behind Chrom and Lissa, and it was time to do something. I ran towards them, Matt following me. Maya ran to get my bow and her books and to go wake Robin and Frederick. We were about a fourth of the way to Chrom and Lissa when the sky started glowing with something other than flame.

Matt grumbled. "Here come the zombz."

Above us blossomed a blue ring of light, marked around the edges with the zodiac symbols. Flashback to Homestuck days. Centered in the ring was a giant eye of white light. Tumbling from the eye were the weird, purplish zombie things. The Risen. And they were rushing towards Chrom and Lissa. I knew 'Marth' would come and save them, but I still was running as fast as I could. Matt was coming too, sword drawn and ready to fight. Chrom was busy with a Risen, and Matt was slashing at another, but there will still more coming. One had Lissa pinned against a wall, and had its axe ready to slash at her. _Fuck_, I thought to myself. 'Marth' was nowhere to be seen. This was where 'Marth' saved her, though. Right?

My arm acted on its own. My dagger was in my hand before I could think, and I threw it through the air. There was no way it would get there in time. The Risen toppled to the ground, my dagger through its neck. Lissa looked at me incredulously, but the battle had already begun. No time to discuss. 'Marth'- well, Lucina -had arrived _finally_, but her job had been done by me. I realized what was happening. This was the first real change that we were enacting on the plot. We made our first difference. This wasn't a game anymore. It never was.

**A/N:**

**Matt: **Alrighty, here it is, finally haha. This took us way longer than it should have but we had complications with a production we are in coming up and just private school in general, that's the way it goes. Anyway the next chapter is going to be by Maya so who knows when it will come out. Hope you liked it :D

**Jason:** So yeah we're doing the whole two chapters alternating, mainly bc Maya was going to write this but had too much stuff to do. This is the last time for a while that you will see me writing, which is probably good because I'm super behind on NaNoWriMo. I hope you enjoyed! Also yeah note on the whole Me and Lissa interaction: a couple nights ago I was reading up on Lissa's character on the FE wiki so I could write her better and I was like WOW SHE SEEMS LIKE SHE FEELS SUPER LIKE ME. LOOK AT THIS WRITING POTENTIAL YASS. That's literally what I said to Matt. So there it is! luv u guiz ~3

**Maya**: Fuck you, its tech week. Teachers don't understand us theater kids. I will not be writing shit until this hell ends and I catch up with not failing my classes. Anon.

|m| Fuck the police! Destroy the Patriarchy! Down with capitalism! Just kidding (kinda) |m|


	5. Camping Trip (Maya)

The Risen surrounded us like a swarm. Though the game never explained what exactly they were up close it was clear they were fallen warriors. Battle wounds crisscrossed their skin but they didn't bleed, even from what seemed to be the fatal wounds that had killed them the first time. When we finally killed them, no pain showed on their faces as they disappeared into purple smoke. I could see my friends around me fighting for their lives, Matt slicing into the risen with his sword to my right and Jason notching arrow after arrow trying to save us from getting into the range of our enemies. I made my way towards Matt as he became surrounded by Risen.

"Maya!" I heard Jason yell. "Watch out!"

I turned around and found myself face to face to one of the foul smelling Risen. Instinctively, I put my hand up to it's face and pushed it away, magic surging through my arm and into it. It's skin sizzled on my hand and the disgusting smell grew stronger.

"Ugh! Gross!"

Even trudging through the woods hadn't prepared me for burnt zombie flesh ruining my manicure. I shook my hand off and turned to search for my next target and found myself in the very middle of the battle. I dodged the sharp claws of a Risen only to fall back into another. It's dagger poked into my back and I threw my arms out in a panic letting out an uncontrolled blast of magic. Light flashed around me followed by a heat that singed my skin. I hope no one on my team was around me but at the moment I didn't care. When my vision cleared I saw three crispy Risen on the ground around me. My heart beat so hard I could feel it thump against my ribs. If I had died what would have happened? Would Matt and Jason go on without me? Well? Probably. They seemed to be fine on their own taking down enemies left and right. I put my remaining energy into the battle but I could feel myself weakening. The Risens claws began digging into my skin and my hands were soon wet with blood. That was probably the moment I realized I was dying.

_Shit, I don't want to die yet! I'm still a fucking virgin for God's sake._

Of course with my luck Robin noticed my impending doom at the exact moment I'd accepted it.

"Lissa!" He directed her towards me.

I swear I saw a halo circling her blond curls. As her staff touched me, I felt energy surge through my tired muscles. I watched as the cuts on my skin laced themselves together. All my pain disappeared, flowing out of me. A satisfied sigh escaped my lips

"Thank you."

Lissa smiled and fell back keeping away from the actual fighting.

I had never felt this grateful to someone in my life. With my newfound strength I pushed through until there were no more Risen I could see.

"Is that it?" I was still ready to fight, magic flowing through me to my fingertips.

"It appears so, unless there are some hiding in the trees." Chrom pointed to the treeline.

"I will check my lord." said Frederick as he moved towards the trees. He pushed past a masked figure I hadn't noticed before. Marth, or Lucina as I had learned, was here. I tried to suppress my inner fangirl and pretend like I wasn't freaking out by being within fifteen feet of her.

"It's her!" I whispered to Jason trying to hold back my giggles. He gave me a weak smile. He was clearly more exhausted than me. Blood was dripping from a cut above his forehead.

"Are you okay?" I asked. "You look a little….dead. Should we get Lissa to heal you?"

"No. She's done enough today." He looked towards Lissa. She looked like she was about to collapse but she still healed anyone with as much as a scratch. Damnit. As soon as I had accepted the possibility that people might actually die and never come back I had told myself I wouldn't make any friends here in case they did. Or if I had to kill them or something. I don't know I never finished the game. But they were all so nice, and loyal, and they all acted like real people not game characters. It was getting a lot harder to not care about them. Chrom was so loyal and righteous.

Virion was, predictably, flirting with every woman he saw. Lissa was putting up with his compliments and ridiculous stories about how he saved a whole village from burning to the ground singlehandedly. He had been with the shepherds for five minutes and he already acted like he owned the place. In some ways it was charming but right now I just wanted to tape his mouth shut.

"Hey can I talk to Lissa for a second?" I interrupted their conversation. Now's my chance to make friends.

"But I was just telling Lissa here about the time I caught a wild pegasus with my bare hands." Virion flashed a bright smile that I guess was meant to be seductive.

"I'm sure it's a great story!" I plastered on a smile of my own and sat down next to him on the log they were sitting on. "I'd love to hear it."

"Anything for you my lady." For a brief moment I shuddered imagining a sweaty man with a neckbeard and a fedora.

"I was walking through the forest on a clear day tracking a deer. I had just picked up it's trail when I saw it. A wild Pegasus. It was over six feet tall with a wickedly sharp horn."

"Isn't that a unicorn?" Lissa questioned him.

"It was…...a Pegacorn. A cross between a unicorn and a pegasus." Virion quickly defended himself.

"My golly! That sure sounds dangerous" I raised the pitch of my voice and laid on the sarcasm real thick.

"It was." Virion suddenly became serious. "I could have died and I would have never gotten to meet you ladies." Lissa and I shared an incredulous look. "But luckily I knew how to handle it. I ran straight into the face of danger and grabbed it by the horn!" I gasped and quickly threw up my hand to cover my mouth in a classicly damselesque pose.

"Yes! I know! It's hard to believe but I always do what's needed in times of danger." Virion puffed out his chest so that he appeared more noble.

"What happened next?" Lissa asked excitedly.

"Well, I swung around and mounted it. I held on for dear life as it flew all around the countryside. By the time the day was over I had tamed the beast."

"Oh you'll have to let me see it someday! Can you take us to see this magnificent pegacorn?" Lissa asked, wide eyed and innocent.

"Well…. I knew I couldn't keep a mythical beast like that locked up so….I set it free." Lissa deflated, feigning utter disappointment.

"That sounds pretty exciting." I said dreamily. "You must be pretty strong to tame a wild pegacorn!" I grabbed onto his biceps. "You have such big arms!"

"Oh, well, I am a master archer." He flexed his arms.

"And your legs must be pretty strong too."

"Of course."

"How about you do me a favor and use them to jump off a cliff." I deadpanned.

"Excuse me?" Virion stared at me bewildered.

"I said, go jump off a cliff." I almost burst out laughing when I saw his expression. He looked so hurt.

"Has no one called you out on your bullshit before?" I asked.

"I...I." he stumbled over his words. Now I felt just a little bad for him. Just this once I could cut him a bit of slack.

"If you want women to like you, you have to talk to them from the heart." I put my hand back on his arm, this time in a comforting gesture. "They don't always want to hear about you. You need to have an exchange. That's the only way you can have a connection."

"Plenty of women enjoy my company." Virion said, now uncertain of himself.

"Maybe, but how many of them stick around?" I asked sincerely. Maybe I could show him how to create actual relationships. He stayed silent.

"If you ever want to know how to make women actually want to talk to you, come to me." I stood up. "Lissa? I need to talk to you."

"Of course!" She stood and we walked away, leaving Virion to his own thoughts.

Once we were out of earshot I turned to tell her what had been bothering me since she saved me.

"I really want to thank you for helping me before. You saved my life." I said nervously. I'm not the best at emotional conversations.

"There's no need to thank me. I'll always help if I can."

"But you don't know me, or Jason and Matt. How can you trust us after so little time? Not that you shouldn't. You risk your life every time you heal someone. Why risk it for us?"

"Everyone here does the same in every battle, even you guys." she smiled. "When you fight with us you're risking your life as well. That's how I can trust you."

I was speechless. Before I talked to Lissa I had thought she was childish but her explanation was much wiser than I had expected. I felt bad for stereotyping her and the rest of the shepherds. Ugh. This meant I had to actually get to know them for who they really were.

"All clear." Frederick said as he returned to the clearing.

"I guess we sleep now." I looked around at our campsite. A few things had been knocked over but other than that it was untouched after the Risen completely vanished when killed.

I found Matt and Jason and settled near them.

"I hope I'm not the only one who won't be able to sleep after that." I stared into the treeline seeing nothing but darkness. I'll never admit it to anyone but I'm terrified of the dark. The only light source was the moon and stars above us.

"Well it was easier than real people, but don't worry. You aren't." Matt reassured me.

We all lay down together and look at the stars like some cheesy movie. There were so many more than at home. You don't really see any stars anywhere near NYC.

"The stars are different." Jason said.

"What do you mean?" I asked. "There are a lot more I guess."

"No. I can't find any major constellations." he searched the sky, still looking for something recognizable.

"Well it is another world." Matt added. "This might be a completely different universe."

"Yeah." I searched for the Big Dipper, the only constellation I knew by heart, and found nothing.

We fell into a comfortable silence looking towards the sky. Laying here, it was easy to forget where we were and pretend we had continued with our camping plans back home.I was only starting to think about what our friends would be doing right now when Matt started singing.

_When the night has come_

_And the land is dark_

_And the moon is the only light we'll see_

_No I won't be afraid_

_Oh, I won't be afraid_

_Just as long as you stand, stand by me_

Jason and I took our respective parts building a nice background for Matt to work with, oohing and aahing and chiming in on the "stand by me". The song wasn't complicated but it was the most beautiful thing I've heard in a while. I hoped that everyone else in camp felt the same way.

_If the sky that we look upon_

_Should tumble and fall_

_All the mountains should crumble to the sea_

_I won't cry, I won't cry_

_No, I won't shed a tear_

_Just as long as you stand, stand by me _

_So darling, darling_

_Stand by me, oh stand by me_

_Oh stand now, stand by me, stand by me_

_Whenever you're in trouble won't you stand by me_

_Oh stand by me, oh won't you stand now, stand_

_Stand by me_

When we finished we settled back into the silence. There was no applause or anyone to tell us how we did but somehow, the sky seemed to get a bit brighter. I felt safer than ever since we had arrived in Ylisse. With my friends around me I finally sank into my dreams.

**A/N**

**Matt: **To start: we here at KanArcoGuppy apologize for the massive gap between this chapter and the last. Tech week isn't easy, performing isn't easy, trying out for the next production isn't easy, finAL EXAMS ARE A PAIN IN- anyway. We apologize. Also Maya writes 2 words an hour, forgive her she means well. Also, while waiting for her, Jason and I have basically outlined all the major plot points of people dying and such sort. But now, Its 5 AM. We're tired. But hey, we did it, we're on break, more content soon. Hope you liked it. I'm literally falling asleep while typing this. Night.

**Maya**: It's 6 a.m. Why am I still awake? Tumblr. And this. This is basically a musical. I literally can't type anymore. Love you mucho. Bye.

**Jason**: Hooooooly shit this took so long. Sorry about the horridity of the wait, and we hope you enjoy it. Also hopefully Maya's next chapter will get put out faster too. (also ive become addicted to this game. blame matt. send help)


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